We are surely acquainted with the famous film series—Jurassic Park, the paradise of the dinosaurs. Well, such a park might not still be a reality in the coming years, but that doesn’t mean that landscapes with similar hazardous impacts or maybe tads higher don’t exist in the world. Brace yourself, we are not talking about any ancient or mythical creature, we are talking about the Frankenstein humanity has itself given birth to, a non-living substance—plastic! Yes, there is a place on this planet, topping the list of the most plastic or plastic bottle polluted lands that would give you a big jolt to the reality that plastic as an element is, and the global catastrophe it nurtures at its very core.

The ill-fated ‘plastic park’ is ironically a UNESCO World Heritage site and is known as the Henderson Island, the largest of the four islands of the Pitcairn Island group in the South Pacific. The island harbours astonishing biodiversity with ten endemic plant and four land bird species in association to multiple marine animals adorning its shore, with a total area of 3700 hectares. The remarkable fact is that it is one of the few regions in the world whose ecology has been untouched by humans and unfortunately, still, plastic reigns as the supreme in almost every inch of this ill-fated land. The reason of such a fate stems from the fact that plastic items from multiple continents such as the Americas and the Australasia are simply washed into the island’s shores, making it the most plastic polluted land in the whole world. Well, how much is it? Don’t worry, it’s ‘only’ 1.98 seconds worth of annual production of plastic; that is 18 tonnes!

The grotesque condition of the Henderson Island was unveiled by researchers from the University of Tasmania and the UK’s Royal Society for Protection of Birds. They found out that a staggering 38 million pieces of plastic have annexed the once beautiful island that combinigly weighed close to 18 tonnes and everyday around 13,500 new plastic items wash into the shore. Plastic items range from toys, bottles, ornaments, containers, and pretty much everything that is thrown away carelessly by us after use. What’s worse? About 68 percent of the plastic is not simply visible and is embedded deep into the earth. The researches found as many as 4,500 plastic items within every square meter of the area, buried at a depth of 10 centimeters. The team noted the painstaking effect. The land’s beautiful crabs, just a representation of the land’s inhabitants, have built their shelter around the plastic items—old, broken, toxic, and sharp—with many small marine animals even residing in bottle caps or even in a broken doll’s head! What the innocent creatures don’t realize is that this action would actually poison them to death within some time! All the beautiful life in that beautiful land is living inside a heap of wastes—a trap of slow, painful death!

This incident is more disheartening than we have found anywhere else and is a stark reminder of the actual reality of plastic pollution or plastic bottle pollution, whatever it may be. If you, as a reader, is still unaware of the catastrophe plastic is inflicting upon us, probably should visit or at least see the pictures of the place. The time when we could ignore the harmful effects and just sit down hoping for nature’s own way of clearing out what is wrong, has been left behind. This consequence of plastic is just beyond comprehension and beyond the scope of nature to revive itself. We need to understand that we are killing our own abode—our planet—and all the biome in it, one plastic at a time! But, it’s again not a time to sit and just hone your awareness, the moment has come to finally take an action! Stop using plastic and let this action resonate with everyone in the world. Save this planet, save the life!

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The Plastic Park

We are surely acquainted with the famous film series—Jurassic Park, the paradise of the dinosaurs. Well, such a park might not still be a reality in the coming years, but that doesn’t mean that landscapes with similar hazardous impacts or maybe tads higher don’t exist in the world. Brace yourself, we are not talking about any ancient or mythical creature, we are talking about the Frankenstein humanity has itself given birth to, a non-living substance—plastic! Yes, there is a place on this planet, topping the list of the most plastic or plastic bottle polluted lands that would give you a big jolt to the reality that plastic as an element is, and the global catastrophe it nurtures at its very core.

The ill-fated ‘plastic park’ is ironically a UNESCO World Heritage site and is known as the Henderson Island, the largest of the four islands of the Pitcairn Island group in the South Pacific. The island harbours astonishing biodiversity with ten endemic plant and four land bird species in association to multiple marine animals adorning its shore, with a total area of 3700 hectares. The remarkable fact is that it is one of the few regions in the world whose ecology has been untouched by humans and unfortunately, still, plastic reigns as the supreme in almost every inch of this ill-fated land. The reason of such a fate stems from the fact that plastic items from multiple continents such as the Americas and the Australasia are simply washed into the island’s shores, making it the most plastic polluted land in the whole world. Well, how much is it? Don’t worry, it’s ‘only’ 1.98 seconds worth of annual production of plastic; that is 18 tonnes!

The grotesque condition of the Henderson Island was unveiled by researchers from the University of Tasmania and the UK’s Royal Society for Protection of Birds. They found out that a staggering 38 million pieces of plastic have annexed the once beautiful island that combinigly weighed close to 18 tonnes and everyday around 13,500 new plastic items wash into the shore. Plastic items range from toys, bottles, ornaments, containers, and pretty much everything that is thrown away carelessly by us after use. What’s worse? About 68 percent of the plastic is not simply visible and is embedded deep into the earth. The researches found as many as 4,500 plastic items within every square meter of the area, buried at a depth of 10 centimeters. The team noted the painstaking effect. The land’s beautiful crabs, just a representation of the land’s inhabitants, have built their shelter around the plastic items—old, broken, toxic, and sharp—with many small marine animals even residing in bottle caps or even in a broken doll’s head! What the innocent creatures don’t realize is that this action would actually poison them to death within some time! All the beautiful life in that beautiful land is living inside a heap of wastes—a trap of slow, painful death!

This incident is more disheartening than we have found anywhere else and is a stark reminder of the actual reality of plastic pollution or plastic bottle pollution, whatever it may be. If you, as a reader, is still unaware of the catastrophe plastic is inflicting upon us, probably should visit or at least see the pictures of the place. The time when we could ignore the harmful effects and just sit down hoping for nature’s own way of clearing out what is wrong, has been left behind. This consequence of plastic is just beyond comprehension and beyond the scope of nature to revive itself. We need to understand that we are killing our own abode—our planet—and all the biome in it, one plastic at a time! But, it’s again not a time to sit and just hone your awareness, the moment has come to finally take an action! Stop using plastic and let this action resonate with everyone in the world. Save this planet, save the life!